Somebody has told me that your shouldn't stroke/tickle and dogs tummy when its presented to you because this is a vunerable area so the dog could attack you.....but I always stroke a dogs tummy if it rolls over because thats what I assume it wants me to do.

Am I wrong?

Some dogs show thier tummies as a sign of argh whats the word, showing they are lower in the pack if you know what I mean?

I always thought it was a submissive gesture and showed they trusted you.

It is a submissive gesture and I have never heard of a dog attacking someone for simply stroking its tummy. If a dog is going to attack you it wouldnt usually do so from this position (A cat on the otherhand usually does :suspect:) :hihi:

Thats the word, submissive. Sorry, dork head on today :hihi:

Ive stroked countless dogs tummies and never been attacked. It is a sign of subserviance or just a sign of complete trust. after going beserk for 2 mins when we get home, ours throw themselves on their backs for tummy rubs.

It is a submissive gesture and I have never heard of a dog attacking someone for simply stroking its tummy. If a dog is going to attack you it wouldnt usually do so from this position (A cat on the otherhand usually does :suspect:) :hihi:

I have never heard of dogs attacking from this position either- generally it's either a submissive gesture or because they like having their tummy stroked or scratched.

With cats it comes down to the individual cat I'm afraid. I've had a number of cats who would happily lie on their backs and have the soft fur on their bellies stroked, but a couple who would willingly have your hand off for trying. Baby even likes it (but I'm the only person who's allowed to pick her up or stroke her tummy).

Somebody has told me that your shouldn't stroke/tickle and dogs tummy when its presented to you because this is a vunerable area so the dog could attack you.....but I always stroke a dogs tummy if it rolls over because thats what I assume it wants me to do.

Am I wrong?

It's probably not a good idea to continue to tickle the dog's tummy if his love lipstick pops out ;)

its submissive on the dogs part if he/she lets you stroke their tummy..If you have a very nervous/submissive doggy, yoiu can stroke the fur the opposite way of its growth esp the male, on the chest area in the middle of the two front legs. This gives him a feeling of power and makes him feel top dog so to speak as its the same stroke as if he was in position when making puppies with a lady doggy:)
This is only advisable to do on extremely submissive dogs who may benefit from this type of stroking.

Somebody has told me that your shouldn't stroke/tickle and dogs tummy when its presented to you because this is a vunerable area so the dog could attack you.....but I always stroke a dogs tummy if it rolls over because thats what I assume it wants me to do.

Am I wrong?

There's a bit of truth in this but I wouldn't worry.
I've never experienced it first hand or ever heard it happening, but I did read about it in a dog-body-language-book (can't remember which one sorry)
in 99% of dogs its a friendly, submissive gesture and they want to be stroked.
But with a severely nervous/abused dog, apparently if you are approaching and it's really scared of you, it will go into the most submissive position it can think of, as if to say "ooh please dont come over here & hit me - look I'm a good boy" and if you lunge towards them & suddenly start stroking their tummy, it freaks them out & they turn to plan B of getting rid of you - being defensive.

Sorry if I didn't explain that very well :?

I would assume it would be very very obvious to tell the difference between a dog showing you its tummy cos its happy, and rolling onto its back out of extreme fear though. ;)

I have never heard of dogs attacking from this position either- generally it's either a submissive gesture or because they like having their tummy stroked or scratched.

With cats it comes down to the individual cat I'm afraid. I've had a number of cats who would happily lie on their backs and have the soft fur on their bellies stroked, but a couple who would willingly have your hand off for trying. Baby even likes it (but I'm the only person who's allowed to pick her up or stroke her tummy).

My cat likes having his tum tickled ... purrs like mad.

Katie B got there before me, I too have heard you shouldn't, and I wouldn't anyway if I didn't know the dog.

The stomach is shown as a submissive or trust gesture because it is the easiest part for another dog to attack and kill the dog so in some dogs who are actually saying 'please don't hurt me' they will try to defend themselves if you bend down to touch them.

If it's your own dog - there's no problem, but until I knew a dog or it's owner told me it was ok, I wouldn't tickle any dog's tummy that I didn't know (just as I wouldn't go to pet a dog I didn't know).

Some dogs show thier tummies as a sign of argh whats the word, showing they are lower in the pack if you know what I mean?

Submission

I always thought it was a submissive gesture and showed they trusted you.

It is a submissive gesture- an aggresive dog would never expose its belly (unlike some cats who like to pretend they are being submissive just so they can shred the skin from your hand when you give them a tickle!) but a nervous aggressive dog might also roll over, so you need to be wary.

One reason why dogs appear to enjoy and be pacified by having their tummies rubbed is thought to be sexual- when a dog mounts a bitch, the chest area on the dog rubs against the bitch'es back, so you might want to bear than in mind when giving your dog that next chest rub...